A blog about individual and community development using new information and communication technologies, especially e-learning, open educational resources, open source, Web 2.0, blogs, wikis, social networking, social bookmarking, semantic web and other social software.

2008-12-03

I know there are now quite a lot of examples of e-medicine around, but this story from the BBC News UK really caught my attention.

While working with medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in DR Congo, vascular surgeon David Nott used text message instructions from a colleague to perform a life-saving amputation on a 16-year-old boy. The boy's left arm had been ripped off and was badly infected and gangrenous. Mr Nott knew he needed to perform a forequarter amputation, requiring removal of the collar bone and shoulder blade.

He contacted Professor Meirion Thomas, from London's Royal Marsden Hospital, who had performed the operation before. "I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it," he said.

David Nott explains the procedure

The operation is only performed about 10 times a year in the UK, and requires the back-up of an intensive-care unit. Patients usually lose a lot of blood during the procedure. Mr Nott had just one pint of blood and an elementary operating theatre, but the operation was a success and the teenager made a full recovery.